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3 wk old still wont breast feed pushes off breast!

I had a c section took me 4 days to bring in my milk. The hospital didn't bring her to me and bottle fed her for the two days I was in recovery. I can get her to suckle and root on my breast but then she pushes off and gets very fussy. She acts sometimes like she wants to but will only pacify with my nipple. I'm pumping and bottle feeding and trying to get her to breast feed but I ind it very upsetting that she refuses. I have tries nipple shields, changing positions, not bottle feeding her and letting her kind of go hungry. I have tried pumping first to reduce a strong let down?! So lost and want to breastfeed this is our last child . Our first was very preemie and thingies tied an I managed to get her to feed after three months of waiting for her to suckle on my breast due to her small size.... What do I do!!!

Re: 3 wk old still wont breast feed pushes off breast!

So sorry you are having this struggle! It is very early days, this can be turned around. Don't panic!

When baby "pacifies" on the nipple, does it hurt you? When a baby is learning to nurse latch may not be perfect. This may be ok as long as it is not too painful or injuring to you. Baby needs to figure this out and practice may help!

The basics: Keep baby on you as much as possible, skin to skin if that is comfortable for you. Offer to nurse at the very earliest cues or before baby cues. A ‘laid back’ or leaning back position often helps a lot with latch and the "pushing off" issues you are having. You need not be lying way back! Just slightly reclined like comfortable on a couch, or leaning back against a chair back, for example, is also "laid back."

Pump at least 8 times a day if possible until baby starts taking the breast.

While you don’t want to overfeed baby with the bottle, don’t let her get too hungry. A baby will latch better when calm and not frantic. If baby needs to be fed and cannot nurse, try giving her a very small amount of supplement-a half ounce to an ounce, maybe. Then try bringing her to the breast.

Keep supplemental feedings frequent and small-2-3 ounces at a time. Try to nurse before supplementing and/or after a small amount of supplement as needed.

Here are two simple pictorials, you want the one on latch. Notice that the mother is in a “slightly” laid back position, looks like on a couch? This is a very “adjustable” position, play around to find how you and your baby are most comfortable. http://cwgenna.com/quickhelp.html